INDIANAPOLIS — There was Michigan. Big, bad No. 1 seed Michigan. The Big Ten regular-season champions. The team coached by a former NBA All-Star. The one left to be its conference’s savior.
And there the Wolverines were, on the ropes against No. 8 seed LSU, down five with 10 minutes left and struggling to make shots or stop shots from being made. This seemed inevitable—the latest Big Ten team to flop in the Big Dance.
And then came an unlikely hero: Wake Forest transfer Chuandee Brown Jr. And then came a 6-foot-9 German-born forward, Franz Wagner.